this particular burden came to light recently in the context of the tragic toyota crashes. during hearings held by chairman rockefeller in the commerce committee, we learned that although toyotas were equipped with e.d.r.'s, until recently they were only able to be read by one computer in the entire united states. that's why in addition to requiring the recorders in all vehicles for sale in the united states, the vehicle safety improvements act will also require that recorders be easily read by a universal tool, regardless of make or model of the vehicle. in addition, nhtsa's rule also fails to address medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. my legislation would require nhtsa to issue a rule addressing those vehicles as well. while they comprise a small percentage of the vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are overrepresented in crashes result ing in fatalities. in these crashes, an event data recorder would be a useful tool during the crash investigation in dirge the cause of the crash. -- in determining the cause of the crash. my bill prote